Jasmine Ledesma

Vitamin

he come on like a fever
 
                he my last tangerine he my alka seltzer
he good boogie! I find him at the end of the street
                in the pouring lonely
I find him at the end of a dripping starlight     he fabulous,
he frightful I would firing squad for him, I would ambush
singing opera in the basement              catsup
he cuatro, unos, dos in his moonman glasses
sipping orange soda                   he call me baby of the year
he says a chicken was born in a museum he says pollution
an igloo in the bed         crazy glue              phone bills
he mustard gas he limelight         he leave me alone
                when the disease spreads like tabloid and when
the markets collapse like sick and tired men                 and when
the beautiful atomic brims across the spine of goodnight
I soothe myself in the bathtub             the dirty waters
saying                                 he love me, he love me, he love me

Jasmine Ledesma is a writer based in New York whose work has appeared in places such as Crazyhorse, Rattle, and [PANK] among others. Her work has been nominated twice for Best of The Net and three times for the Pushcart Prize. She has been short-listed for the American Short Fiction Halifax Ranch Prize. She was awarded the Patricia Clearly Miller Award while in the psychiatric hospital. Her debut novella Shrine has recently been released by Junk Press.